Gary Neville labelled the penalty Marouane Fellaini conceded against Everton as “idiotic” as Manchester United were forced to settle for a third consecutive league draw.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave the Red Devils a first-half lead at Goodison Park, before the Belgium midfielder came on and within minutes conceded a penalty to allow Leighton Baines to snatch a late point.
The result left the Red Devils nine points short of the top four, having drawn back-to-back home games in their previous two Premier League matches, against Arsenal and West Ham.
Despite United’s indifferent start to the campaign under Mourinho, Neville is refusing to blame the Portuguese for bringing the Belgian on and, ultimately, seeing him gift the home side a point.
“It [his introduction] was purely to deal with the long balls into the box.” said Neville.
“You can see the sense in it but when he goes on and does such an idiotic thing like that…
“It was really poor from an experienced international.
“It’s no reflection on the manager.
“He’s made the substitution for the right reasons and he has been let down by his player.”
It was a return to Everton for Fellaini, who spent five years with the Merseysides before moving to Old Trafford when former Toffees boss David Moyes took over the Red Devils in 2013.